Thursday
12Jun2008
Is Robert Downey Jr. on the Trail of Sherlock Holmes?
Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 9:49AM
Attention
Robert Downey Jr. fans: He's the hottest thing
in Hollywood right now.
We recently updated you on
the status of Downey zeroing in on the role of Hugh Hefner, and now there's talk that he might play an icon
slightly older than Hef: In what has to be considered a slight surprise,
Entertainment Weekly is spreading the news that
Downey is considering the role of
Sherlock Holmes in a new update directed by
Guy Ritchie.
Understandably,
I have questions
about whether or not Guy Ritchie is the right director for this project, and I
even have doubts about the project in general. Ritchie hasn't made a good movie
in eight years (and even then, he's only made two good movies) and his style
isn't exactly a good fit for the story or the setting.
Of course, when we originally told you about the
Sherlock Holmes revival, the word was that this would not necessarily be the
Holmes we know, meaning a lot of liberties would be taken with the one of the
most important fictional characters in English literature. Those liberties
include Holmes being more of a man of action and less of a quiet thinker.
Whether or not those are good decisions to make depends on whether you like
Holmes or not. I do, go back and re-read some of the complete works at least
every three years or so, and would prefer if they were seeking to do a Victorian
Jason Bourne that they just invent one on their own instead of saying it's
Sherlock Holmes. Hopefully, they'll keep enough elements of the character to
make it worthwhile.
As for Downey, he can no doubt pull it off, although
he's obviously a better fit for the intellectual Holmes than the boxing, fencing
Sherlock we're believed to be getting. And it seems, too, that Downey is
interested in the world famous investigator for his acumen rather than his
physicality, because he's also linked to another detective movie, Fox's Travis
McGee.
If there's good news in a Guy Ritchie, action hero
Sherlock Holmes adaptation, it would be that one of our most interesting actors
would be in the role. I am surprised, given the whole English vibe of the
project, that they aren't reaching out to a British actor first. I mean,
otherwise, why the hell sign Guy Ritchie, who's clearly not option one when you
think of Sherlock Holmes?
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